Top stories before the open Wed

Pre-Open Stocks action

By

EmilyChurch

U.S. stock futures added to gains after stronger-than-forecast updates on the U.S. economy. U.S. jobless claims were down 11,000 to 351,000. U.S. Oct. durable goods orders U.S. Oct. consumer spending flat vs. 0.1% expected up 3.3% vs. 1% expected. Oil stocks were in demand in the pre-holiday positioning Royal Dutch
RD
and BP
BP, -0.16%
each up close to one percent on their home markets. U.S. Dept. of Energy weekly supply crude and gas updates are due this morning. In London, January North Sea Brent crude futures were up 22 cents at $28.16 a barrel.

Global Markets

Tokyo stocks eked out gains overnight; European stocks were higher as M&A speculation again provided some lift on German bank stocks. The dollar came off, but stayed within the recent ranges against the euro and the yen. The euro was last up 0.3 percent at $1.1817, seeing as much impact on the apparent collapse of the deficit spending pact in Europe as the dollar gathered Tuesday from the upward revision in third quarter GDP.

U.S. fund firm Federated Investors
FII, +1.34%
overnight said its review of mutual fund trading found hedge fund investor Veras Partners made late trades on 15 occasions. "In those instances, the trades were accepted by a group of employees who did not have a sufficient understanding of the circumstances under which trades could be processed after 4:00 p.m.," Federated said.

Open Solutions
OPEN
priced 5 million shares at $17 each in a bid to raise $85 million with underwriter Bear Stears as the maker of customer service software for the financial sector readied is debut Wednesday on the Nasdsaq. The Glastonbury, Conn. tech firm priced above its $14-$16 range in a sign of strength. The stock market debut of Open Solutions is coming a day late after an employee at underwriter Bear Stearns sent an unauthorized fax to potential IPO buyers, according to fund manager firm Renaissance Capital. Bear Stearns did not return a phone call seeking comment.

Overall, it's been a tough week for the IPO market, with Synnex, Sirva
SIR, +1.80%
Pinnacle Airlines
PNCL
and Nexstar Broadcasting
NXST, -0.20%
all falling below their offering prices. Only home appliance retailer Conns
CONN, +5.04%
has produced a gain

Genentech
DNA, +0.00%
found some broker support overnight after shares tumbled late Tuesday, down $2.11 to $82.26, on a disappointing result in an Avastin cancer therapy trial. It was last recouping some of those late losses, down 87 cents on Instinet at $83.50. "We believe (the) trial was grossly underpowered to demonstrate a survival difference. We expect these results will have little to no impact on Avastin's sales potential," SG Cowen told clients.

German conglomerate Siemens
SI
is considering a fresh restructuring, including possible jot cuts, in its Business Technologies division and is in talks to sell units, Handelsblatt reported, citing new division Chairman Heinrich Hiesinger, AFX reported. The disposals under consideration could reduce headcount by around 3,500, or 10 percent of the 33,500 workforce, the report said.

Dutch food services group Royal Ahold
AHO
said it will make a 2 for 3 rights offering of shares at 4.83 euros per share, to raise around 3 billion euros. The offer is contingent on approval at Wednesday's shareholder meeting. That helped to hit shares by around 5 percent, as the rights offer was priced lower than expected.

Intraday Data provided by SIX Financial Information and subject to terms of use. Historical and current end-of-day data provided by SIX Financial Information. All quotes are in local exchange time. Real-time last sale data for U.S. stock quotes reflect trades reported through Nasdaq only. Intraday data delayed at least 15 minutes or per exchange requirements.